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iPhones assist search and rescue efforts in 2 Sicamous missions

Emergency calls gave crews GPS coordinates for stranded sledder, skiers
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Shuswap Search and Rescue snowshoe up Owl Head to assist a stranded sledder, whose SOS call via a newer model iPhone gave volunteers GPS coordinates to help pinpoint his location and expedite search efforts. (Shuswap Search and Rescue-Facebook)

A stranded snowmobiler made a good call.

On Jan. 3 at about 6 p.m., Shuswap Search and Rescue (SSAR)was dispatched to find a stranded sledder up Owl Head Mountain, who was able to alert emergency services to his situation thanks to his newer model iPhone.

“The interesting thing here is that the sledder, who was visiting from Saskatchewan, had an iPhone 14 or 15, which feature a satellite SOS function,” SSAR member Jan Crerar explained. “So although he had no cell coverage, he could send a brief message via satellite and that message gave us very exact location for him.”

She added this cut the search time, and the sledder’s exposure to the elements, by hours. His SOS to the B.C. Emergency Coordination Centre was then relayed through the Sicamous RCMP, with the call ‘ping’ providing GPS coordinates.

Despite having that information, the SSAR team still had a long night getting to the sledder, who was unable to get out of a gully he’d gone down. Responding members started out on sled, then snowshoed in from 11 p.m. to 1 p.m. and guided him out on foot with extra snowshoes.

“The subject was healthy but very wet and very tired,” said SSAR search manager/team leader Gordon Bowes. “He wouldn’t have made it off the mountain without the aid of the snowshoes and some directions.”

The crew had the sledder back at his truck around 1:30 a.m., and finished their mission around 4:30 a.m.

Just days later, on Saturday morning, SSAR received a call that a group of skiers in the Gorge area of Malakwa had not returned at the expected time, and were significantly overdue. The skiers also had an iPhone that allowed them to send a satellite SOS, so SSAR deployed members to the site. When they got close to where they’d start to ski in, they then received a message from the skiers stating that they’d started a fire and were going to wait until the morning to work their way out.

“Due to the conditions and the skiers, from the message, appearing to be in control of things, we decided to not venture into the backcountry late in the evening,” Bowes said. “We decided to stand down and wait to see if they’d make it out the next day.”

By 1o a.m. the following day, however, the skiers still hadn’t been heard from, so SSAR activated again and were en route to their location when they did get word that the group had safely made their way out.

Over the course of those four days, Wednesday to Saturday, SSAR logged 420 operational hours, which included providing assistance to Vernon Search and Rescue in looking for missing Coldstream man, Robert Lee Baines. That mission also included teams from Kamloops, Penticton, Kaslo, Revelstoke, Kelowna and Merritt, as well as a police dog. RCMP continue to search for Baines, who police say is in his 80s and has dementia.

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About the Author: Heather Black

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